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On Peacemaker, Harcourt, one of the characters, mentions that when she first killed someone, her periods stopped happening for quite a bit.

My question is this: Just how realistic is that?

Scientifically, can the stress of knowingly and willingly killing another fellow human being affect the killer's menstrual cycle if they're a woman (or have a functioning womb but prefer to identify as something other than a woman)? And if so, to what degree?

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    $\begingroup$ The search term that you have not found in your dilligent research is psychogenic amenorrhea (or amenorrhoea in traditional English English). Yes it happens. VTC as off-topic. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Sep 17, 2022 at 15:44
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    $\begingroup$ @AlexP Honestly, the link you provide just reads as a wall of words so complex I can barely understand them. Could you please turn your comment into a full-blown, explained answer? $\endgroup$
    – Brinstar77
    Commented Sep 17, 2022 at 16:23
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    $\begingroup$ @Brinstar77 This question doesn't seem to be about building a fictional world. You're either asking about real world biology, or since it's you're world, the answer can be whatever you want it to be. On this site questions that are off topic are expected to be closed not answered. AlexP is doing you a favor by pointing you towards a source you can use while also telling you that this question should not be asked on this site. $\endgroup$
    – sphennings
    Commented Sep 17, 2022 at 17:08
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    $\begingroup$ (1) The link I provided goes to a Google search for psychogenic amenorrhea. (2) It is a useful skill in life to develop an understanding for the way anatomical, physiological and basic medical terminology works. How did I know what to search for? I translated "mind-made no-monthly flow" in schoolboy Greek. The condition of having the monthly flow stopped is a-meno-rrhea, Greek for no-month-flow; mind-made is psycho-genic. (Always try Greek before Latin; basic terminology is Greek, Latin is for modern stuff.) (3) Maybe Google loves me, because it leads with a short and to the point summary... $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Sep 17, 2022 at 18:07
  • $\begingroup$ ... (Continued) For me Google leads with the following summary, extracted from some medical paper: "Psychogenic secondary (secondary means "not the normal state of things") amenorrhea is defined as [skip] stress-related amenorrhea when the condition is viewed only in relation to [skip] its etiopathogenesis (= specific-disease-making in Greek). Various studies have placed the condition on the border between psychiatry (= mind-medicine in Greek) and gynecology." So, (1) the condition exists, (2) it does what it says on the tin, and (3) is a interaction between the mind and the body. $\endgroup$
    – AlexP
    Commented Sep 17, 2022 at 18:17

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Yes.

See the attached review paper Functional Hypothalamic Amenorrhea. No need to read it all. Let's just look at the first paragraph with the important part in bold.

Nowadays, more and more physicians, including gynecologists, are becoming aware of the tremendous impact of various types of stress has on women’s health, particularly on the reproductive system. Stress related to insufficient nutrition, excessive physical effort and psychological experiences have a negative impact not only on reproduction,but on the entire human body. Functional hypothalamic amenorrhea (FHA) is the term used to describe lack of menstruation resulting from various kinds of stress, diagnosed after excluding other etiologies of amenorrhea. It is a common cause of hypogonadotropic hypogonadism in women, occurring in the absence of structural lesion. FHA is responsible for approximately 30% of secondary amenorrhea in women of reproductive age and approximately 3% of primary amenorrhea [1,2].

Can the stress of killing another person cause you to stop having periods? Yes it can.

The only caveat is that the stress will have other effects besides amenorrhea.

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    $\begingroup$ Interesting, I wouldn't have been surprised to find that kind of stress capable of messing up the current cycle (either delay or more likely bringing it forward) but I am very surprised it can have ongoing effects. Although, I suppose the ongoing effects could also be blamed on the stress of killing someone being ongoing, rather than one-and-done. That is, anyone not psychotic is probably going to question themselves no matter how justified the act. $\endgroup$
    – SoronelHaetir
    Commented Sep 17, 2022 at 20:32
  • $\begingroup$ Friendly reminder: Please don't answer questions about third party worlds. This question is about the DC Extended Universe and therefore your answer may not be correct. $\endgroup$
    – elemtilas
    Commented Sep 18, 2022 at 22:26

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